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The Origins
of

Christianity

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Thomas
Wliiffaker

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The Origins of Christianity
By Thomas Whittaker (1 856-1 935)

The full title of this book is The Origins of Christianity with an Outline of Van Manen's Analysis of The
Pauline Literature. Willem Christiaan van Manen (1842-1905) was a Dutch theologian. The vast
majority of van Manen's radical criticism of the New Testament and Christian origins has never been
translated into English.

In this book, Thomas Whittaker outlines the arguments of van Manen for an English-speaking
audience. Van Manen's work is not now generally known, but his views obtained notoriety by the
articles and books that he wrote, in which he maintained that none of the Epistles that bear the
Apostle Paul's name were in fact written by him. From van Manen's conclusions, Whittaker goes
further and relegates the whole body of the New Testament to the second century, and even places
the beginning of the Christian movement until after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. Of
Paul himself very little is certain, though Whittaker maintains that there may have been an itinerant
preacher of that name. Whittaker comes to the conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth is entirely a
mythical personage, but holds that what afterwards became Christianity or Paulinism had its origin
in a Jewish-Messianic movement. (Summary by JoeD)

Read by JoeD; total running time: 08:18:55. Dedicated Proof-Listener: Kristine Bekere. Meta-
Coordinator/Cataloging: Carolin Kaiser.

This recording is in the public domain and may be reproduced, distributed, or modified without permission.
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Cover image by Duccio (d. 1318). Copyright expired in US, Canada, EU, and all countries with author's life
+70 yrs laws. Cover design by Janette Brown. This design is in the public domain.

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